Golf club



K. SOLHEIM July 25, 1967 GOLF CLUB Filed Jan. 20, 1964 INVENTOR. Kaeem-M 5'04 HEM/l ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,332,684 GOLF CLUBKarsten Solheim, 10412 N. 37th St., Phoenix, Ariz. 85028 Filed Jan. 20,1964, Ser. No. 338,644 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-81.3)

This invention relates to improvements in golf clubs which in the pasthave most often been constructed with a straight shaft having a grip orhandle at one end and a narrow portion at the other end attached to aclub head. When in normal use, the grip is held by a player in such away as to cause the club head to extend away from him with the club faceperpendicular to the line of its motion at the moment of impact with aball.

For best results, the player swings the club head through the ball suchthat its impact with the ball occurs at approximately the center of itsface. However, the center line of the grip does not pass through thecenter of the club head since the club head extends from the shaft.Accordingly, some torque is developed on the shaft which tends to causethe grip to twist in the, players hands, particularly at the moment ofimpact. In an effort to eliminate the undesirable torque, clubs havebeen provided in the past with a hosel curved in such a way as to causethe extended axis of the shaft to pass through the center of the clubface; but such efforts have not been satisfactory except in thoseparticular designs or styles of golf clubs used exclusively for puttingwhich do not produce much torque in normal use.

It is believed that a curved hosel has been unsatisfactory not onlybecause of its distracting appearance but also because it does notassist the golfer with his timing. For best timing the golfers handsshould lead the club head through the downstroke, particularly at themoment of impact. A golfer usually achieves that timing by coordinatinghis body to lead with his arms and hips in the downstroke andfollow-through.

The object of this invention is to provide a golf club having a head inwhich the center of gravity is substantially along, but slightly behind,the extended center line of its straight elongated grip.

Another object is to provide a golf club so constructed that it assiststhe golfer in leading the club head with his arms throughout his swing,particularly at the moment of impact of the club face with the ball.

These and other objects are achieved by bending the shaft of a golf clubnear the grip in such a manner that the extended center line of the gripis caused to extend slightly in front of the leading edge of the clubhead a distance equal to lessthan the diameter of a golf ball, but greatenough that the extended center line passes in front of the leading edgeof the club face, and between the toe and the heel thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a golf club as it is held with its solesubstantially fiat on the ground while a ball is being addressed;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the golf club of FIG. 1 as it is held while aball is being addressed; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the club of FIG. 1 showing it in anevenly balanced position with the front "ice edge of the club facehorizontal while it is being supported in a cantilever manner.

Referring to the drawings, the face of a club head 10 is shown having alongitudinal grip 11 connected thereto by a shaft 12 which is bentslightly at a point 13 near the base of the grip such that an extendedcenter line 14 of the grip passes in front of the leading edge of theclub head as viewed in FIG. 1, and between its toe 17 and heel 15 asviewed in FIG. 2. Ideally, the bend at the point 13 is so formed thatthe extended center line 14 passes through the center of gravity of aball 16 (FIG. 1) and the club head combined, but at the moment of impactwhile the ball is compressed against the club face. However, since it isdifiicult to determine how much different balls compress upon impact andsince the loft or the slope of the club face varies from club to club ofa set, it is believed that the present invention may be advantageouslypracticed if the extended center line is made to pass in front of thecenter of the club face any distance equal to less than a ball diameter,but great enough to cause the center line to pass in front of theleading edge of the club face.

As viewed in FIG. 2, the extended center line 14 passes half-way betweenthe toe 17 of the club face and the heel 15; accordingly, it appears theextended center line of the handle would pass through the center of theball at the moment of impact. However, that is not necessarily truesince the head is being swung downwardly at the moment of impact, buteven so, deviation from the ideal would not have an appreciable effecton the improved results achieved by the practice of this invention. Theextended center line 14 may be made to pass closer to the toe or theheel, depending on the balance desired, but still passing through theball.

In practice, the bend at the point 13 is adjusted in the plane of thefront view of FIG. 2 in such a manner that the club is balanced asdesired about the extended center line. To test for that properadjustment, the club may be supported as shown in FIG. 3 like acantilever with the grip 11 held horizontally between a pivot 20 nearthe shaft-end thereof and a bracket 21 at the other end. If the bend isproperly adjusted for even balance about the center line of the clubhandle, the head 10 will assume the horizontal position shown; if notthe grip will rotate about its axis until the club assumes a slightlytoe-down or heel-down position. If a club slightly toe heavy is desired,the extended center line 14 is made to pass closer to the heel, and viceversa.

When the bend at the point 13- has been properly adjusted, the extendedcenter line 14 of the grip 11 will pass through the golf ball,preferably below its center, at the moment of impact, thereby allowingthe club head 10 to lag slightly behind the body movement of the golfer,particularly the extended leading arm and hand, at the moment of impactto assist his timing. A large torque is not developed which would tendto rotate the club about the axis of its grip because the shaft is bentback as viewed in FIG. 1 and the club is more evenly balanced on bothsides thereof as viewed in FIG. 2.

I claim:

1. A golf club comprising:

a head having a toe portion and a heel portion,

an upwardly extending shaft connected to said heel portion,

3 4 an elongated grip secured to the upper end of said References Citedshaft 2 D PA said gnp being so inclined relative to said shaft thatUNITE STTES TENTS an imaginary extension of the center line of said3,166,320 1/1965 01110115 27380 grip passes in front of a centralportion of the strik- EN ing face of said club head, and in front of thelead- 5 FQREIGN t TS ing edge f Said club head, 3,806 9/1926 Austral a.the distance between the center of the club face and 2503829 3/1963Austral!- said imaginary extension of said center line being less than adiameter of a golf ball, and the Width BARRY SHAY, Primary Examine?- wgfersagtfi gegfialbgfirtion corresponding to the dlam DELBERT B. LOWE:G. I M ARLO, 2. A golf club as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaftAssistant Examiners is straight between said grip and heel portion.

1. A GOLF CLUB COMPRISING: A HEAD HAVING A TOE PORTION AND HEEL PORTION,AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING SHAFT CONNECTED TO SAID HEEL PORTION, AN ELONGATEDGRIP SECURED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID SHAFT, SAID GRIP BEING SO INCLINEDRELATIVE TO SAID SHAFT THAT AN IMAGINARY EXTENSION OF THE CENTER LINE OFSAID GRIP PASSES IN FRONT OF A CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STRIKING FACE OFSAID CLUB HEAD, AND IN FRONT OF THE LEADING EDGE OF SAID CLUB HEAD, THEDISTANCE BETWEEN THE CENTER OF THE CLUB FACE AND SAID IMAGINARYEXTENSION OF SAID CENTER LINE BEING LESS THAN A DIAMETER OF A GOLF BALL,AND THE WIDTH OF SAID CENTRAL PORTION CORRESPONDING TO THE DIAMETER OF AGOLF BALL.